China set to become major player in London tourism

The number of visitors London attracts from China is expected to double to 330,000 by 2025, according to a forecast issued by the mayor office.

London hosted 160,000 tourists from China last year, according to London & Partners, the Mayor of London's official promotional agency.

The predicted 103 percent rise means China is set to become London's fastest-growing major tourism market, followed by India, which is expected to rise by 90 percent, and the United States and the United Arab Emirates, which are both projected to grow by 43 percent.

Chinese visitors' spending in London is also set to rise 129 percent from 218.5 million pounds (USD 283 million) last year to an estimated 500.7 million pounds in 2025. Each Chinese visitor spends an average of about 1,800 pounds during their stay in London, twice the 900-pound-per-week gross weekly household income in London.

Speaking at a launch event for London's Autumn tourism season, the city's Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "Chinese visitors - tourists, students, entrepreneurs and business people - are so important to London being the great city that we are."

A fifth of all Chinese visitors to London last year arrived between October and December. More than half of them arrived in the summer and around 14 percent arrived in winter and spring.